Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/491

Rh colic. At Rouen, in 1905, I obtained one of these bones, mounted in silver as a pendant, and apparently very old; I have seen no other mounted specimen.

(49a and 49b, IV.) A pair of bones, said to be from the head of a dolphin ("golfin," the old and provincial form of delfin), to be quite rare, and to be known by the name of amuletos (amulets); when used they were to be pierced and worn upon the chest, in contact with the skin, as a very potent preservative against all diseases, and as a means of securing good luck; Granada. At Madrid a similar pair of these bones, also unpierced, was found upon a street stand at the rag fair, but the vendor could supply no information concerning them.

An amulet formerly commonly used in Spain is a seed of a leguminous plant, large, and usually dark red or brown, with a black edge, numbers of which, variously mounted in silver as pendants, are still to be found. It is a tropical product, and is generally from one of several varieties of Mucuna or Entada.

(50, VII.) Seed of Entada, mounted in silver; Granada. Said to be a "wild chestnut," and preservative against the effects of the evil eye and all diseases, but especially efficacious against the effects of the currents in the atmosphere which, striking upon a person, cause paralysis and distorted features.

(51, VII.) Seed of Mucuna, mounted in silver; Seville. Said to be a potent protection against sickness.

(52, VII.) Seed of Mucuna, mounted in silver; Madrid. Called an haba ("bean," the popular name for the pieces of trochus shell), and said to be employed against jaqueça (megrims or headache). Another, slightly different, obtained at the same time, was said to be for the same purpose.

A seed of Mucuna, similarly mounted, was said at Toledo to be a wild chestnut, and to be worn to prevent the evil eye from taking effect.

(53, VII.) A bracelet or fob-chain (?) composed of six tropical seeds, some greyish, some brown, mounted in metal